Willard c



No. 620,228, Patented Feb. 28,1899.

- w. c. cousms.

PLOW.

(No Model.)

Hill

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLARD O. COUSINS, OF FERRUM, VIRGINIA.

PLOW.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 620,228, dated February 28, 1899.

Application filed September 8 1898. Serial No. 690,520. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLARD C. OoUsms, a citizen of the United States, residing at Ferrum, in the county of Franklin and State of Virginia, have invented a new and useful Plow, of which the following is' a specification.

The invention relates to improvements in plows.

The object of the present invention is to improve the construction of plows and to provide a simple and inexpensive one adapted to be readily converted into an ordinary single-shovel cultivator or a double-shovel plow and capable of ready adjustment to bring the draft at a central point or to raise and lower the same when the plow is arranged either as a single or double shovel cultivator.

The invention consists in the construction and novel combination and arrangement of parts, as hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and pointed out in the claims hereto appended.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective View of a plow constructed in accordance with this invention and arranged to form a double-shovel cultivator. Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view of the rear portion of the same. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the front portion, illustrating the manner of adjusting the draft of the plow. Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing the parts arranged as a single-shovel plow. Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view of the clevis disk or plate.

Like numerals of reference designate corresponding parts in all the figures of the draw mgs.

1 and 2 designate plow-beams provided at their rear ends with shovels 3 and 4 of the ordinary construction, and the plow-beam 2, which is shorter than the beam 1 and which is detachably connected to the same, has its shovel 4 located in advance of the shovel 3 of the beam 1 to form a double-shovel cultivator, as illustrated in Fig. 1 of the accompanying drawings. The beam 2 is adapted to be detached when it is desired to arrange the parts to form a sin gle-shovel plow, as illustrated in Fig. 4 of the drawings.

The front ends of the beams 1 and 2 are secured together by transverse bolts 5 and '7, which also ad justably connect a clevis-plate 7 to the plow, and the rear portion of the beam 2 is connected with the beam 1 by a transverse rod or screw 8, having suitable screw-threads and provided with adj ustingnuts 9, which permit the beams andtheir shovels to be arranged the desired distance apart.

The rear portion of the beam 2 is supported by an inclined brace 10, extending upward from the inner face of the said beam to the adjacent plow-handle 12 and secured at its lower end to the transverse screw or rod 8. The plow-handles 12, which are arranged at an inclination in the usual manner, are secured tothe opposite faces of the beam 1 and are supported by upwardly-diverging braces 13, bolted to the beam 1 and to the inner faces of the plow-handles, the upper bolt of the inner one of the braces 13 serving to se-- cure the upper end of the brace 10 also to the adjacent plow-handle. When itis desired to convert the double-shovel plow into a sin- 'gle-shovel cultivator, the beam 2 and the brace 10 are detached, together with the transverse adjusting-screw, the front bolts 5 and 6 permitting this removal.

The bolts 5 and 6, which connect the front ends of the beams 1 and 2, also serve to secure the clevis-plate adj ustably between the said beams. The clevis-plate, which is preferably in the form of a disk, has the bolt 5 passing through a central aperture 14 of it, and the other bolt 6 is adapted to pass through any one of a series of perforations 15, located at the rear portion of the disk. The clevis plate or disk is provided at its front with an opening 18, adapted to receive a ring 19, which is designed to be engaged by the drafthook of a whiffl'etree in the ordinary manner, and in order to enable a solid ring to be employed for this purpose the clevis disk or plate-is provided with an entrance slot or passage 20, which extends rearward and has its mouth located at a point between the upper and lower edges of the beams when the clevis plate or disk is arranged in its normal position, whereby the ring will be confined in the opening of the said disk or clevis-plate.

removing the bolt 6 the clevis plate or disk may be rotated to bring the entrance of the slot or passage above the beams, so that the ring 19 may be readily introduced into and removed from the opening 18. The front ends of the beams 1 and 2 are provided with recesses 16 and 17 to receive the ring 19, and the clevis disk or plate is adapted to confine the ring at the top, bottom, or center of the recesses 16 and 17, and the clevis disk or plate is preferably provided with three perforations 15 to effect this result, although the number of perforations may be varied as desired. The nuts 21 and 22 of the bolts 5 and 6 are adapted to engage either the outer face of the beam 2 or the adjacent face of the clevis disk or plate, the presence or absence of the beam 2 in no wise affecting the adjustment of the clevis disk or plate.

The invention has the following advantages: The plow, which is simple and compartively inexpensive in construction, may be readily converted into a single or double shovel cultivator, and it is capable of ready adjustment to vary the draft and arrange the ring at the top, bottom, or center of the front ends of the plow-beams.

Changes in the form, proportion, and minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention.

What I claim is- 1. Adevice of the class described'comprisin g the beam 1, the plow-handle secured thereto, the beam 2 arranged at one side of the beam 1, the transverse rod or screw adjustably connecting the beams, the upwardly-diverging braces extendingfrom the beam 1 to the plowhandles and secured to the former by the transverse rod or screw, and the brace 10 secured to the beam 2 by the rod or screw and extending upward to the adjacent plow-handle, substantially as described.

2. In a device of the class described, the combination with a plow-beam, of a clevisplate pivoted to the plow-beam and provided with perforations, said clevis-plate having an opening at its front adapted to receive a ring and arranged to engage the latter with the front end of the plow, whereby the ring will be held at atop, bottom, or central point, and afastening device passing through one of the perforations and securing the plate at the desired adjustment, substantially as described.

3. In a device of the class described, the combination with a plow-beam having a recess, of a pivoted clevis-plate mounted on the plow-beam and provided at its front with an opening to receive a ring and capable of adjustment to retain the ring at the top, bottom or center of the recess, and means for securing the plate at the desired adjustment, substantially as described.

4. In a device of the class described, the combination with a plow-beam having a re cess, of a clevis-plate pivoted to the plowbeam and provided at its front with an openin g to receive the ring and having an entranceslot normally covered by the plow-beam, said plate being adapted to be rotated to bring the entrance to the slot beyond the beam to permit a ring to be placed in and removed from the opening, and means for secu ring the plate at the desired adjustment, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

WILLARD (J. COUSINS.

\Vitnesses:

WM. L. FORD, Ms M. WALKER. 

